Kidnapped! 5 Facts about Rhonda

When Stacy and I talked about the week I’d kidnap her blog, I told her this week was pre-destined because it’s my birthday week. Super excited was an understatement! So, here we are, on my born day, visiting an awesome Horror blog. How much better can a weekday birthday get?

In honor of my born day, I thought I’d fill this post with five things all about me. Not just random things…well, maybe some randomness…but mostly things about me that inform who I am as a Horror Writer. Here we go:

The first novel I read all the way through was Carrie by Stephen King. I was about six or seven years old and although my parents thought it appropriate to hide all of Mama’s romance magazines and novels, they apparently didn’t think they should hide all Daddy’s horror and sci-fi novels. So there we have it.

I didn’t fully come out as a horror writer until I was almost forty. Although I’ve written horror since I was a child, I never felt comfortable embracing that part of my writing persona. Writing horror was just not an acceptable endeavor for a little black, Southern Baptist girl.

I always wanted to be the monster. Part of my fascination with the horror genre is totally rooted in my always wanting to be the monster. The monster was the most powerful person in the movie or the story and I wanted to get inside the monster’s head. I wanted to know what made them tick and what motivated them. I also wanted that power for myself.

I’m deathly afraid of rabbits. Crazy, I know. But nothing can reduce me to quivering mass of hysteria quicker than a horde of rabbits. One spring, our subdivision was infested with the creatures and I spent many long minutes locked in my van until someone else ran them away so I could get into the house. There’s something about the way they move that freaks me all the way out. Might have something to do with Mama craving and eating rabbit throughout her pregnancy with me. Maybe some type of furry, “you’re really on of us” revenge…?

I love the darkness. I’m more comfortable in the dark than in bright light. Darkness is a more natural state for me. I’ve always been a night owl, preferring to live and be more creative at night. Everything is quieter in the dark when many other beings choose not to move so much. The ones that are moving around then are doing so in stealth. I find that infinitely beautiful. And the light shone on some things reveal so many cracks or can be changed to show only what the light wants to be shown. I find it somewhat depressing to face a world illuminated in what can be manipulated so easily.

Even though it’s my birthday, I want to give away a gift. For the chance to win a free ebook, please comment.

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J. Josephisa Texas-based writer and professor who must exorcise the demons of her imagination so they don’t haunt her being. A life-long horror fan and writer of many things, she has recently discovered the joys of writing in the academic arena about two important aspects of her life: horror and black femininity.

When R. J. isn’t writing, teaching, or reading voraciously, she can usually be found wrangling one or five of various sprouts and sproutlings from her blended family of 11…which also includes one husband and two furry babies.

J. can be found lurking (and occasionally even peeking out) on social media:

Yeah, I was pretty young, but my parents just didn’t think of hiding King away with other “inappropriate” stuff. And, yes, Pet Sematary was one of the scariest books I’ve ever read. The movie was pretty scary, too.